Coupling for whiffletrees.



Patented Dec. l9, I899. I 6.6. THOMPSON.

COUPLING FOR WHIFFLETBEES.

(Application filed Sept. 26, 1898.)

(No Model.)

GEORGE S. THOMPSON, OF EPPING, NElV HAMPSHIRE.

COUPLING FOR WHIFFLETREES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,462, dated December19, 1899. Application filed $eptember 26,1898. Serial No. 691,854. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. THOMPSON, of Epping, county of Rockingham,State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Couplings for Whiffletrees or the Like, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters onthe drawings representing like parts.

lVhiffletree-couplings are open commonly to the objection that they wearloose rapidly, with a consequent annoying tendency to rattle and adangerous liability to pull apart under a sudden strain.

Antirattling devices have been provided;

but the life of these has been short, on iformly,

from the nature of the material when made of rubber or the like, butmore particularly from the manner of their application, inasmuch as ithasbeen the custom to interpose the antirattling device between andtending to force apart the members of the coupling, thus aiding topromote ultimately the very evil to prevent which antirattling devicesare provided.

Accordingly my present invention has for its object an improved mannerand means for connecting coupling members of this class, characterizedby provision for maintaining the members undera steady d raft towardeach otherinstead of adisruptive strain, the means to accomplish thisbeing preferably of such a character as to equal the coupling membersthemselves in permanence.

The various features of my invention will be fully illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, described in the specification, and set forth inthe claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a pair of shafts to which acoupling embodying my improved construction has been applied. Fig. 2 isa vertical transverse section of the same on the line 06 00, Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a view in plan looking from the bottom of what is shown astheu'pper coupling member in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken onthe line 3 Fig. 3, looking from left to right. Fig. 5 is a plan viewlooking from bottom to top of the lower coupling member, Fig. 2. Fig. 6is a View in elevation of the member shown in Fig. 5 looking from leftto right.

In the coupling which I have selected for tightly between the body aillustration and description as a convenient embodiment of my inventionthe members A B are shown as of the form which has been provedconvenient after long usage in devices of this class, although anysuitable contour may be followed and various changes in shape may bemade, especially to adapt the coupling to other use than as aWhiffietree-coupling.

111 the form illustrated the coupling members are respectively providedwith fiat extensions a 1), arranged suitably, as at a b, to receivesuitable fastening devices, by which they may be attached to thewhiffletree O and to the shaft-bolster D, respectively, in usualor'desired manner.

In carrying out the chief object of my invention, which, as alreadystated, is to provide for maintaining the members under a steady drafttoward each other, I have furnished the member A with a post, hub, orprojection a preferably hollow and located centrally in the body of themember. This projection is designed, to pass through the body of theother member B of the coupling, which in the form illustrated isprovided with an aperture at or near the center of the member, theconstruction illustrated taking a slot-like form, the open end of whichwill extend toward the rear of the shafts, as indicated in Fig. 2.Suitable means will be provided to retain the members in coupledrelation, one convenient form of such means E being illustrated as aspring-disk secured in any suitable manner to the projection a of themember A and adapted to permit the entrance of the portion Z1 of themember D between it (the disk) and the body 0. of the member A, theportion being embraced and the disk, so that the members are heldtogether under a constant pressure, and axial separation of the same isprevented under any circumstances so long as the disk remains attachedto the member A. While any suitable means of securing this attachmentmay be adopted, 1 have found a practical and cheap means to be securedby swaging the head a of the projection (1. over upon the disk, whichlatter is provided with a central aperture of sufficient diameter toreceive the fit, while the projection ably is provided with a projectionas a snug may be and prefershoulder a to maintain the disk at a suitabledistance from the body a to permit ready entrance of the portion 19 ofthe member B. When said portion b takes the form of a fiat web, asillustrated, and as it may be formed conveniently, and when the aperture19 is formed as a slot extending rearwardly, as already described, thecoupling members A B may be attached, respectively, to the whiiiletree Oand to the bolster D before theyare assembled, the member A beingattached so that the projection a extends downwardly and the member Bwith its slot 12 extended in a rearward direction.

The disk E is preferably secured in place on the member A at the time ofmanufacture, so that all that is necessary when the coupling membershave been secured to their respective parts is to approach thewhiffletree to the bolster from the rear in such a manner that theprojection a will come opposite the rear end of the slot 19 and the diskE will enter below the body portion 12 The whiffietree being pulledforward, the members will assume the position shown clearly in Fig. 2,after which a bolt F of the ordinary type may, if desired, be insertedand secured in place by a usual nut f, the bolt passing through thecentral aperture a in the member A, as will be readily understood.

The bolt F will of course by my invention be relieved of the greaterpart of the strain to which it is subject in ordinary constructions; butshould the nutf work off or even should the bolt itself break it will beseen, readily, that the retaining member E, both by its resiliency whenformed of spring material,

but more particularly by the manner of attachment when of the preferredform illustrated, will resist in the most effective manner possibledisruption of the coupling, since the strain will come adjacent thecentral region of attachment of the disk to the project-ion a, where thedisplacing-leverage is least powerful. Furthermore, the slot b havingits opening directed toward the rear, even though the bolt F be absent,the projection 61,2 would merely be drawn more firmly into the slot andthe members of the coupling would be held together and accidentaldisplacement prevented until the next inspection of the parts wouldreveal the condition of the coupling. Thus in addition to itsnormalfunction of an antirattling device my improved device is designedto present an effective guard against a form of accident not uncommonand having its source in the disruption of the whiffletree-coupling withconsequent detachment of the whifiietree and its fall upon the horsesheels.

The operation of the coupling members will be obvious from theillustration, particularly from Fig. 2, which shows the disk E seatedwithin the chamber-like recess 12 of the member B beneath the bodyportion 19 which is preferably in the form of a relatively thin web, asshown, the material of the member being extended around in front,preferably as shown, in a flange-like curved wall 19 while the recess isopen at the rear and has substantially straight walls at b to permitentrance of the disk or retaining member E. Preferably the material ofthe member B will be extended beyond the web portion 5 to form a similarrecess Z) to receive the rounded body or hub a of the member A, thelatter being shown as cut away at a for the sake of lightness,cheapness, and to save friction. This annular recess may be utilized fora receptacle for lubricating purposes, if used and if it be so desired.

The retaining member E may vary considerably in form, but is preferablydished inwardly toward the member B, as indicated, and then slightlyflattened at its periphery, as illustrated, to furnish a rather widebearing-surface at said periphery, so that it will not cut into thematerial of the portion 19 of the member B.

The retaining member E may be of any suitable material, but preferablyis stamped up from sheet metal and then tempered. In Fig. 3 it is brokenaway slightly at e to reveal the annular recess a in the member A.

I have showlron the member A a wing-like arrangement a, on each side ofthe center of the body portion, which serves to close the rear of theaperture or recess o and keep out dust or other foreign matter; but thismay be used or not, as found necessary or desirable, and, if preferred,its extent may be sufiicient to close the rear end of the recess b asindicated in dotted lines a in Fig. 2.

As already indicated, the contour of the aperture 11 need not take theform of an open slot, but the retaining means E may be attached to theprojection a after assemblage of the members A B, and it is furthercontemplated that the aperture a in the member A may be omitted if useis not made of a bolt F. The said bolt would obviously be unnecessary inmany instances where the strain upon the coupling would be light, for Iwish it clearly understood that my invention is by no means limited toits illustrated embodiment in a whiffletree-coupling, but I wish tocover its application in the construction of any coupling or equivalentdevice where the improvement disclosed may be of use.

By the use of the terms coupling and coupling members in thespecification and claims it will be understood that I refer not to thearticles to be coupled, as the whiffletree C and bolster D, but to theparts of the coupling proper, as the parts A B.

In general the construction and arrangement of parts may be variedconsiderably from the form illustrated without departing from the spiritof my invention. 7

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a coupling for whiffietrees or the like,- a pair of couplingmembers cooperating substantially in the manner set forth and meansintermediate and acting to draw said members constantly toward eachother when in coupled relation.

2. In a coupling of the class described; a coupling member having abody-aperture; a cooperating coupling member provided with a hub orprojection adapted to traverse said aperture; and means adapted to besecured to said projection and to maintain said coupling members underconstant draft toward each other.

3. In a coupling of the class described, the combination with a pair ofcoupling members cooperating substantially in the manner set forth,of adisk-spring intermediate and adapted to draw said members togetherconstantly.

4. In a coupling of the class described; a coupling member having aweb-like body portion provided with a central aperture; a cooperatingcoupling member, having a hub or projection extended from its body andadapt- I ed to traverse said aperture; and a springdisk adapted to besecured at its center to said projection and to contact at its freeportion with said web-like body portion, said portion being embracedfirmly between said spring and said cooperating coupling member.

5. In a coupling of the class described; a coupling member having amedial slot-like aperture; and a cooperating coupling member having ahub or projection provided near its head with a resilient retainingmember; said projection being adapted to enter said slot when saidmembers are assembled slidingly, to enable said slotted member to beinterposed and embraced firmly between said retaining member and saidcooperating member.

6. The combination with a plurality of articles to be coupled; of acoupling member secured to one of said articles, and a cooperatingcoupling member secured to another; one of said members having a hub orprojection provided with a resilient retaining member; and the other ofsaid coupling members being slotted or recessed to permit the entranceof said projection and retaining member, and the assemblage of saidmembers in coupled relation after attachment to said articles.

7. The combination with a whiflietree and its supporting-bolster; of acoupling member secured to the former, and a cooperatingcoupling membersecured to the latter; one of said members having a hub or projectionprovided With a resilient retaining member; and the other of saidcoupling members being slotted or recessed to permit the entrance ofsaid proj ection and retaining member, and the assemblage of saidmembers in coupled relation after attachment to said whiffletree andbolster; said whiffletree, bolster and hub or projection being piercedto receive the usual, or a suitable, retaining-bolt.

8. The combination with a coupling member having a body-aperture and acooperating coupling member havinga hub or projection adapted totraverse said aperture, of an annulus or disk of spring material adaptedto receive said projection centrally and be attached thereto, saidspring being dished to approach nearer said cooperating memberperipherally than centrally, the periphery of said spring-disk beingarranged to engage with said apertured member in a flat annular regionof contact.

9. The combination with a coupling member of the class described, havinga hub or projection, of an annulus of spring material carried by saidprojection, the head of the latter being upset to retain said annulus inplace.

10. A spring of the class described, consisting of a disk or annulus ofresilient material, having a central attaching-aperture, theintermediate body portion of said annulus being dished, and itsperiphery flattened to form a bearing-surface.

11. The combination with a coupling member of the class described havinga recess open at one side, of a cooperating coupling member having abody portion adapted to enter said recess and provided with a wing,flange or shoulder adapted to serve as a closure for said open side ofsaid recess, substantially as described.

12. In a coupling of the class described, a coupling member having abody-recess (t adapted to serve as a receptacle for lubricating materialand open throughout its extent on the side adjacent the cooperatingcoupling member, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specifiation in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE S. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

E. W. LYND, CHARLES W. SANBoRN.

